Having experienced a meteoric rise over the last couple of seasons, Kildare have more than earned their place in hurling’s top tier in 2026.

The Lilywhites would experience promotion in back to back seasons. Having won the Christy Ring Cup in 2024, they would go on to follow it up with a Joe McDonagh Cup final triumph over Laois this summer.

It will be interesting to see how they fare in the Leinster Championship next summer, although Babs Keating is not giving them much of a chance. Speaking to the Irish Examiner earlier this week, he suggested that Kildare were well short of the standard required at the top level.

Looking at Naas and St Martin’s, Naas have been at the top of the ladder in Kildare the last number of years but they were so far away from the principles that govern teams at the highest level.

I’m not saying St Martin’s are top of the pile, but Naas were giving away frees you’d see a junior B team doing and that’s a Naas team that have eight or nine in the Kildare team going into the Leinster championship next year. It’s going to be a crucifixion.

Unsurprisingly, those comments have not been well received within the county.

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Kildare Hurling Boss Had Furious Response Tipperary Legend’s Claim About His Team

Kildare manager Brian Dowling has done a fantastic job since taking over the county, masterminding consecutive promotions. He will be hoping to continue that trend in 2026.

Speaking on the KCLR Hurling Podcast, Dowling gave a fairly damning take on Babs Keating as a pundit.

I’m not worried about him. We are where we deserve, we’re in the Leinster championship…

It’s hard not to read them – about ten people sent them on!” the Kildare manager replied.

But look, I’ve seen a lot of stuff Babs has said down through the years, and if he was praising us I’d actually be worried because I wouldn’t take anything that man says too serious.

Look, he’s trying to stay relevant, he’s trying to stay important. He’s come out with absolute stupid things in the last number of years.

Strong words.

Kildare will no doubt be big outsiders in next year’s provincial championship, but they have shown in recent season that they are capable of upsetting the odds and giving a good account of themselves.

In any case, it would not be a surprise to hear a certain Tipperary legend’s prediction brought up at some point over the course of the campaign.

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